02/28/2026
Did you know that Jerry Harkness was born in May 1940 in Harlem, New York. He wss an athlete of natural talents. As a student, he played every sport imaginable; however, when Jerry Harkness joined the basketball team at DeWitt Clinton High, his ability on the court became apparent. While attending Loyola University, his performance on the basketball court made sports history as Jerry Harkness led the team in scoring for three consecutive years. Nearly forty years after ending his collegiate basketball career, the 1,749 points he scored still remains the third highest in Loyola's history. As team captain in 1963, he led Loyola to the National Championship and was named the NCAA's Most Valuable Player.
On July 11, 2013, in the Oval Office of the White House, Harkness and former Loyola teammates John Egan, Les Hunter and Ron Miller met with President Barack Obama to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the school's 1963 national championship. To date it remains the only NCAA Division I basketball championship won by a university from the state of Illinois. In September 2013, Harkness and the entire 1963 Loyola Ramblers NCAA Championship basketball team was inducted into the Chicagoland Sports Hall of Fame.
The "Game of Change" refers to the pivotal 1963 NCAA basketball tournament game between Loyola University (Chicago) and Mississippi State, a landmark moment in the Civil Rights Movement that challenged racial segregation in college sports. Mississippi State's all-white team defied a state injunction to play against Loyola's integrated team, which featured four Black starters, paving the way for greater racial equality in college basketball. A picture of Jerry was featured on the 50 Anniversary Edition Cover of the game program.
The 1963 Loyola Ramblers were inducted in the College Basketball Hall of Fame in November 2013.
In June 2013, Harkness was awarded the Muhammad Ali Athlete Award.He is a member of the New York City Basketball Hall of Fameand the Loyola Athletics Hall of Fame.
